


Sins of Fathers

by TAFKAB



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Dwarf/Elf Relationship(s), Elf Culture & Customs, Family Drama, M/M, POV First Person, POV Gimli, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 01:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10451688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TAFKAB/pseuds/TAFKAB
Summary: After the fall of Sauron, Gimli meets with a cold welcome in the Court of Thranduil.  (An old story, published many years ago under the pseudonym Bill the Pony)





	

The halls of Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm, were not what I expected. Though the halls had not the splendor of Lothlórien, my father's tales of damp dungeon cells and chill corners, of cramped cellars and gloomy barrels, did not seem real to one who entered through the front gate, his friend the King's son at his side.

We were welcomed as heroes, and went in among the Elves, where Thranduil himself gravely bade me to come to his board and feast with his people, to honor his son. I took guest right where my father had been led in chains as a thief, and I was filled with pride. And though he glanced at Legolas betimes as if in doubt, I did not find the King's courtesy lacking. I thought of Erebor and my father Glóin, and when I looked at Legolas, I rejoiced that the long enmity of our kindreds had found its final waning.

They feasted us that night, and I sat at Legolas's side. We were placed on the table at his father's left, close to the dais where the King sat with his queen and the eldest prince, Legolas's brother. Though the meat was not as my kin would have served, the wine was excellent, and if the table manners of the elves were odd, then at least my companion did not sip like a bird, but had learned to tip back his cup and drink his draught eagerly, complimenting his host, like a dwarf.

The feast stretched on, and I learned some respect for the ways of the elves-- their dainty portions might not fill the belly soon, but there were many, and I soon discovered that I might not finish the feasting with comfort. I had begun to think of loosening my belt when I felt Legolas stiffen beside me. 

He had been quiet at whiles the evening long, and I thought that he was weary, but I have walked beside him in peace and in war, in safety and in peril, and I am not fool enough to ignore his warnings; I turned and found his eyes resting on the minstrels. They sang as they had done the evening long, in their own tongue, their voices blending with flute and horn, but Legolas's eyes were narrow and his lips white as he listened.

Of Elvish I know more than my kin, and yet not a word in ten might I recognize, and fewer than that of song, but I heard them then, and they spoke of the Naugrim, which is the Elvish name for the Khazad. 

Even as I listened, Legolas surged beside me, and I hardly knew what he did until the clang silenced the hall and the wine from his cup splashed the wall beside the singer, and the music was silenced.

The cup was bent; it fell and rolled till it lay on the flat of its broken rim. Legolas cried aloud in Elvish, and his father rose. All the company looked at them, and at me. I would not have my presence disrupt this feast, but my friend's heart I trusted, and so I stood at his side. "What do they sing?" 

"He has sung of the Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves, and now he sings of Mîm." Legolas turned to his father. "He has sung, and you have said nothing. Will you sit idle and let your bards insult the guest of your son before this gathering? Forty-two orcs he slew at Helm's Deep. Many miles he has ridden with me, and I honor him!"

Thranduil looked at him and did not speak. My mind was busy, for I knew that the tales would not be the same in the songs of the elves as they were in my own people's telling, and yet Legolas's anger was enough for me to judge the insult.

"I do not blame your people for the mistrust you shared with them when first we met." I spoke loudly enough that all could hear, and yet I kept my words calm. "But if you condemn an entire race for a single tale of evil, then you will shun even the wizards, for Saruman the White was found in dishonor, and his staff was broken."

The elves murmured among themselves, clear voices rising and falling in the high-vaulted room. 

"And though there have been more than a few deeds of evil among the dwarves, your own people are not unstained. For even the dwarves have heard of the sons of Fëanor, and there are tales we might sing in our own halls." I laid my hand upon Legolas's arm. "But for my part, I will sing them no more."

And yet Thranduil did not speak; at length he sat and motioned to his minstrels, and they resumed their music. I could not tell if they sang anew, or started again where their song had broken.

Legolas stood yet as the instruments played, and he swept his gaze around the room, and where his eyes fell, others stood, until a goodly company arose and stood before their King, and yet the minstrel sang, and the elves gazed on one another, and spoke only with their bright eyes. 

They stayed thus until the song was finished, and Thranduil raised his head. It seemed to my eyes that his circlet of silver weighed heavily upon him for all his timeless years, and his face was careworn. "You have pledged to the King of Gondor to settle in Ithilien. Go from my halls, then, and take those who love you." His eyes fell upon me, and if there was regret in them, there were neither mercy nor forgiveness to soften it.

I wondered, then, if he would find Valinor, and I thought in my heart that he would not; it seemed to me that he and his folk would dwindle and be lost, for they had not the greatness of heart of Galadriel-- or Legolas Greenleaf.

At his command we went out, Legolas and the elves who stood, and I last; I looked hard at the King, but he had raised his hand before his guard, and they did not hinder us. 

Later I held Legolas as he wept, and I looked up into the mossy boughs of tall trees crowned with stars.


End file.
